Improvement in attaching trunnions to ordnance



n. GIBBoNs.

Ordnance.- No. 43,681. 1 v Patented Aug. 2, 1864.

A UNITED STATES RODMOND GIBBONS, OF

PATENT OFFICE.

OAKLAND, oALIEoENIA.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,681, dated August2, 1864.

To all whom it may concern: I

Beit known that I, RoDMoNDGIBBoNs, of the city of Oakland, in the countyof Alameda 'and State of California, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and complete descriptionof the same, together with such parts as I claim and desire to havesecured to me by Letters Patent of the United States.

It is well known that the peculiar crystallization of the cast metalabout the trunnions of guns causes this portion of the gun to becomparatively weak, and that the longitudinal strain between thetrunnions and the bottorn of the bore in firing causes the destructionof many pieces of ordnance. To avoid these difficulties I am aware thatseparate trunnions have been put on after the gun was wrought, and thata trunnion-ri-ng withtrunnions upon it has been shrunk' or screwed ontothe gun, andthat atrunnion-ring,trunnions,and breeching have been used,but so made as that each has upon it some portion of the other one ofthe three things, so that an accident to one part renders the wholeuseless until a new ring, trunnions, and breeching are furnished.

The nature of my invention consists in the use of false trunnions, atrunnion-band, and a breech-strap, all made in separate pieces, and putonto the gun and attached to it and to each other, as hereinafterdescribed.

Figure lis a side elevation of a gun with my improvements. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal longitudinal section of the same, taken in the plane of theline A B, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse Vertical section taken in theplane of the line C D, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation; and Figs.5 and 6 are detailed views, hereinafter referred to and described.

l In the drawings, a is the trunnion-band; b b,

the false trunnions screwed into the band, the one entering with aright-hand thread, the other with a left-hand thread, and having heads cc, to which is fitted a suitable handspike, d, Fig. 6. e is thebreech-strap, (more of the gun about the knob and forward over the falsetrunnions. The trunnion-band a, false trunnions b b, and breech-strap eshould be of the best steel and annealed. The trunnion-band a is turnedout from the inside to fit the slope of the gun, and is put on heated-to such a degree that in its contraction, the breech-strap being inposition, it shall draw said strap firmly to its place, and thus preventthe gun from turning.

It will be seen that by my invention guns not only may be cast withouttrunnions and great additional strength secured, but that the labor andexpense of their manufacture may be diminished.

It will be observed that by reason of the false trunnions screwing intothe trunnionband in reversed ways the gun may be speedily andeffectually disabled by the removal of one or both trunnions.

Having thus described my improvements in ordnance, I shall state what Iclaim as my invention, and desire to have secured to me by LettersPatent, as follows:

The combination of and attachments between the false trunnions,trunnion-band, and breech-strap, said false trunnions being sestantiallyas herein set forth and described.

EoDMoND GIBBoNs.

Witnesses:

' RoBT. L. HARRIS,

WM. MACDONALD.

particularly shown in the detailed drawings, Fig. 5,) which strapextends around the breech cured to thetrunnion-band by screws, all sub`

